The Boy in the Field (27 page)

“You promise you’ll keep me safe?”

Noah nodded. “Personally, if it will convince you.”

“Okay.” You stood up and went to the bars. “Because, if I tell
you the names, they’ll come after me and they’ll kill me.”

“They can try.” He handed you a sheet of paper and a charcoal
pencil. “I’ll protect you.”

You took the paper and sat down, writing the names of everyone
you could remember, giving as much detail about them as you could and
underlining the people you felt would be the biggest threat to you. When you
handed it back, Noah read through it, pausing a few times at names he
recognised and looking back at you when he finished.

“I think you missed someone,” he said.

You frowned. “I don’t think so. I gave you every name I know.”

“Ethan Wicker?”

You shook your head. “No. I don’t think he’s one of them.”

Noah laughed. “He’s currently engaged in a mission in Itarsi to
kill me. I think he is.”

Again, you shook your head. “No. I heard he was going to Itarsi
to look for his brother. I don’t think he’s related to them.”

Noah smiled and fetched the key to your cell. “I wonder what
would have become of us if we’d stayed together.” He slipped a piece of paper
into your hand as you left the cell. “Instructions to the safe house,” he
whispered. “Let no one in but me.”

“How will I know it’s you?”

He winked. “You’ll know.”

* * *

The safe house was in a quiet area of the city in a building
where the majority of the occupants were magisters. While there, you read of
Ethan’s arrest in the newssheet. He was caught on the way back from Itarsi with
the rest of the team. They were all sent to Verata Imperial Prison.

You stayed for only as long as Noah was deployed in the city;
when he was called back to Ethigos, you went with him. There was nothing
keeping you in Kinta any longer; the team were gone, Ethan was gone, your job
was gone. Your information led to the arrests of several important figures
within the Liberation. If you had stayed, you wouldn’t have been safe for long.

Noah found you a job in Ethigos City, serving drinks in one of
the bars preferred by his colleagues. It took them a long time to warm to you,
your reputation as an informant from the Liberation making them naturally
suspicious, but at least you were safe. And Noah was always watching out for
you.

The End
(Back to start)

“…nothing on her. Not even pockets.” The scraping of wood on
wood punctured the air. “Uh, scram!”

You opened your eyes as footsteps hurried away from you. The
room around you was dingy and unfamiliar, the walls built from large, sand
coloured blocks. The only light came through a thin slit in the ceiling, open
to the air outside. In front of you was a doorway, a metal gate blocking the
top half, but open at the bottom and behind you was a heavy, steel-clad door
with no handle or keyhole.

You sat up, looking down at your clothes – or the clothes you
were wearing, since they did not belong to you. They were grey and constructed
from coarse fabric, the tunic top too loose and the trousers tight around your
knees. Your feet were bare.

Pain flared in the side of your head as you stood, moving
towards the metal gate and peering out of the doorway. Wherever you were, the
journey hadn’t been kind to you. Your neck ached, your elbows and knees were
bruised and your head felt like it had been stuffed with wool.

Beyond the cell was a large, round room, the floor covered by a
layer of sand. Several other metal gates broke the walls beside you, but all of
them were closed. The only ways out seemed to be through two dark tunnels built
into the wall opposite. Around the edges of the room, people huddled in groups,
most likely playing illicit dice games or trading items of value. One man lay
sprawled at the entrance to the left-hand tunnel, a lump of splintered wood
jutting from his

“Kill or be killed, princess.”

To your right, a man leaned against the wall. His trousers were
torn and he wore no shirt, his broad upper body covered instead by tattoos. He
moved towards you, taking something from the waistband of his trousers as he
moved. You took a step back.

“So what’s your life worth, princess?” he asked, turning his
palm towards you so you could see a broken shard of metal, sharpened on one
edge. “What can you offer me?”

You looked around for something that could help you, but the
other people avoided your eye. You shook your head and raised your hands.

“I have nothing. I’m worth nothing to you.”

He grinned, revealing broken teeth. “You’re worth something.
You’re still fresh and clean. They haven’t ruined you yet.” He reached out and
grasped your collar, slamming you against the wall. “Think a little harder. I
don’t like being forced to steal.”

Choice:
194. Try to Reason with Him
or
195. Try to
Fight Him

You nodded and moved behind him, untying the knots Ethan had
made. He sprang up from the chair and kicked it aside, making you yelp.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he lunged at you, wrapping an arm
around your chest and cupping his hand over your mouth.

There was something in is hand – a cloth, soft, damp and sickly
sweet smelling. Devastatingly sweet. You fought the urge to throw up as your
head began to swim. You knees gave out and your bottom bumped against the
floor.

“I’d rather not kill you,” he said – or at least, you thought
he said. It sounded so far away. You couldn’t see him. You couldn’t see
anything. Too blurry.

* * *

“
Masuki?
Can you hear me? Wake up!”

You looked up, the blurry face above you becoming sharper. You
were on your living room floor. Nodding, you tried to sit up, but your head
swam. Ethan put his hand out to steady you.

“He drugged me.”

“I know.
Hani
, we need to get out of here. Can you
stand?”

You grabbed the front of his shirt and with his help, climbed
to your feet. For a moment, you were unsteady, but then things clicked into
place. You let go and moved towards the door.

“I’m okay,” you said. “Let’s go.”

Instruction:
196. Alibi

“No.” You put your hand to his face, the same way you always
used to. “I can’t.”

“You broke all the promises you made to me. You can break this
one to Ethan.”

“We're at war, Noah. Ethan says you're the enemy. If that’s
true, I can’t let you go. If it’s not true, you’ll understand.”

“You're probably right.” He laughed. “If you hadn't interrupted
us, this whole war would be over now. Your King would be dead and Serlora would
have taken control.”

“You would never have got away with it.”

He shook his head. “That's where you are wrong. Why do you
think I'm wearing his uniform? I was going to kill him myself.”

“You were going to frame Ethan. Everyone knows what Ethan looks
like.”

He smiled. “Yeah. And they would have given me a double
promotion for it.” He shook his head. “Where is your child?”

You clenched your jaw. “I have no children.”

“You said you ran because you were pregnant.”

“Miscarried. I'm sorry.”

“Why are you apologising to me?”

You scowled at the floor. “You were the only one, Noah. It was
your child.”

His face softened and his jaw slipped open. “Mine?”

Tears stung your eyes. “Please. Don't make me—”

“I had no idea.” He stared into his lap. “Why didn't you tell
me?”

“I didn't know how you would react. We were young.”

“But I was good to you. Wasn't I?”

You couldn't bear to hear him speak any longer. The tears began
to fall. You nodded.

“You were.” You wiped your face with the bloody handkerchief.
“I just wish things had been different.”

“Ethan is going to kill me when he comes back.”

“Not if I ask him not to.”

“And if he comes with soldiers?”

“Lie.”

“I don't think that's going to work.” He sighed. “And I’m not
going grovel.”

“You would let them kill you?”

He shook his head. “I will fight them. They will overpower me,
but I won’t die without a fight.” He fell silent.

For a moment, you just stared at him. When he didn’t speak and
when he didn’t scowl, you could believe that he would pass for his brother. But
you knew them better than most and it would take more than switching clothes to
fool you.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” you said. “I thought I was never
going to see you again.”

He gave you a bitter smile. “
Haa
, I thought the same.
Imagine my shock when I found Ethan and followed him back to you.”

“Why didn’t you ever write back to me?”

“We never went back to the house. We ran away.” He didn’t look
at you. “We went to your place. I hoped you would be there. But you never
showed up. Mother got ill and we went to Ethigos and I got a job in their
army.”

“What happened to her?”

“She died. She let the grief take over her life and she
couldn’t cope. She just gave up.” He shrugged. “Hated it.”

“I’m so sorry, Noah.”

He bared his teeth and thrashed against the ropes. “You should
be. I gave you everything and you broke my heart. You took Ethan from us. She
would still be alive if I’d never met you.”

You shuffled away from him.

“Yeah. Run. That’s what you’re good at.” He shook his head.
“When I get out of here, I’m going to show you the pain you’ve cause me. I’m
going to make you feel every second!”

Choice:
197. Try to Calm Him
or
198. Let
Him Vent

You jabbed the blade into the side of his throat and ran,
pushing him into the road. People around you stopped to stare, all of them
looking at you with his face. You shoved them aside, elbowing your way through
a sea of clawing hands, all of them trying to get you.

Then you were through, free of the crowd and facing a fork in
the road. To the left was a huge building, taller than anything you had ever
seen before in your life. To the right was a long, empty road lined on both
sides by tiny houses.

Choice:
183. Go Left
or
184. Go Right

You slammed the door in his face and put your back to the
door. It was impossible. It wasn't him. He had been gone too long. The door
vibrated as he thumped on the other side, shouting at you to let him in.

You pushed yourself away from the door and ran to the rear of
the house where you climbed out of the window. In the dark, it was just like
Landia, the fences and hedges barring your way to safety and freedom. Faces
stared out from every window, each of them a copy of Ethan, all of them wearing
Taatar clothing.

A fork in the road halted your progress. You looked both ways,
trying to decide where to go. To the left was a huge building, taller than
anything you had ever seen before in your life. To the right was a long, empty
road lined on both sides by tiny houses.

Choice:
183. Go Left
or
184. Go Right

You headed towards the building, desperate to get away from
the Ethan clones. Something was horribly wrong and you were sure the answer
would be inside that building. It was like a monument from another time. The
day before, it hadn't existed and yet it was too tall to have been erected
overnight. But the glass in the windows was broken, the brickwork crumbled and
moss grew thick on the surfaces; it could have been there for hundreds of
years.

The wind whistled through the empty streets, picking up
decaying leaves and depositing them in the gutters of the buildings. Litter
scraped on the pavement, the sound like tiny voices, whispering for you to keep
moving. The air grew cold and the sky darkened with thick, black clouds.

You hesitated as you reached the door. Next to the building was
a set of stairs leading into a tunnel underground. A rusted sign engraved with
the words 'Khoya Station' hung above the steps, the paint long since worn away.

Choice:
185. Enter the Building
or
186.
Go Into the Tunnel

The tiny houses had no doors, each one boxed in by a thick
hedge. Skeletal faces stared out at you from the little windows, their eyes
empty and teeth set in perpetual grins. Most leaned on the glass, but some were
slumped against the walls to either side. You tried not to look as you kept
moving, tears helping by blurring your vision.

Hours passed as you walked the road, each house the same as the
last but for the position of its inhabitant. The air grew colder. The sun
failed to rise. Your feet ached. A shape appeared on the horizon, growing
taller with each step you took.

It was the tall building. You had walked for hours only to
return to the point at which you started.

You hesitated as you reached the door. A set of stairs led into
an underground tunnel beside the building. The words 'Khoya Station' station
showed in rusted letters above the steps. You didn’t know what that meant.

Choice:
185. Enter the Building
or
186.
Go Into the Tunnel

The door was already open, the lock busted. You put your hand
to the damp wood and pushed, stepping out of the wind. The concrete was cold
beneath your bare feet, grit and rubble sticking to your soles.

You moved through the hallways, searching for something that
would tell you what was happening. Hundreds of doors led off from the corridor,
all of them locked. You peered through the windows at empty, dusty offices,
dim, grimy bedrooms and festering dining rooms. Scraps of paper on the floor
showed fragments of sun-bleached ink, the words long lost.

At the end of the corridor, you reached a staircase taking you
up to the next level. More doors surrounded you. It was the same as the floor
below, only here the walls were smeared with steaks of red paint.

You went up again. The red stripes were bolder, reaching from
floor to ceiling. The ceiling too was flecked with paint. The dust was thicker
inside the rooms.

Up again. There were names on the doors: Asphala, Lapati,
Vipatti, Akela... Clothes were laid out on the beds inside them, yellowing and
dirty. The carpets were mottled and the walls the colour of wine.

More stairs took you to the next level. The doors there were
open, everything decorated with the deep red colour: bedding, carpets,
curtains.

The stench from the top of the last staircase was overwhelming.
You moved slowly. There were no rooms, no doors, no windows. The floor was a
moving carpet of maggoty corpses.

You choked back a scream and resisted the urge to vomit as you
ran. You tried to retrace your steps, but the doors seemed different and the
staircases led you in circles. You couldn't find the exit.

Every turn took you in the wrong direction and you were sure
you could hear movement. Nothing about it was right. It had to be a dream. It
had to be a nightmare! You kept moving, ready to jump from a window if you
could only get through the doors. You had to find a way out.

Choice:
187. Just Give Up
or
260. Keep
Searching for an Exit